DJIBOUTI??

The Washington Post today contained an article stating that 2 U.S. Marine helicopters had crashed off the coast of Djibouti.......not only that, but it mentioned the Marines had a military base there......(surprise, surprise).....named Camp Lemonier.

Actually, it's Camp Le Monier.......In 2001, it was a former military barracks for the French Foreign Legion, which had been abandoned for years.....the buildings had been stripped of pipes and wiring, the roofs had collapsed, goats roamed the property, and birds had taken to roost in what was left of the structures.

Anyway, the Marines decided to rebuild the place, finally moving into the facility in May of 2003. Its facilities and support operations are administered (surprise, surprise) by Halliburton subsidiary KB&R. It's the home of the CJTF-HOA (Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa).

Reportedly, the CIA has also been using it as a staging ground for unmanned RQ-1 Predator drone aircraft used to track and attack Al-Qaeda operatives.

But enough about that....what I wanted to know was: where the hell is Djibouti? Apart from the US military, who's there? What do they do?

So, I decided that the best way to find out about this garden spot was by logging on to the CIA web site, which is a virtual treasure trove of minutae and statistics......Last updated on January 10, 2006, here are some of the highlights:

It was a French Territory until 1977, when it became independent Djibouti, and was, of course, a dictatorship until a civil war that lasted throughout the 90's ended in a peace accord in 2001.

It's sandwiched between Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea on the Gulf of Aden, near the mouth of the Red Sea.

Size: slightly smaller than Massachusetts

Climate: desert, torrid, dry

Natural Resources: geothermal areas, clay, granite, linestone, marble, salt, diatomite, pumice

Arable land: 0.04%

Permanent crops: 0%

Natural hazards: earthquakes, droughts, flash floods from cyclonic disturbances

Environmental Issues: inadequate supplies of potable water, desertification

Geography: mostly wasteland, strategic location to shipping lanes and Arabian oilfields

Population: 476,000

Median Age: 18

Infant Mortality Rate: 10.4%

Life Expectancy: 43

HIV/AIDS prevalence rate: 3%

Major Infectious Diseases: degree of risk: high
food or waterborne: diarrhea, hepatitus A and E, typhoid
vectorborne: malaria

Religions: Muslim 94%, Christian 6%

Official Languages: French, Arabic

Ethnic Groups: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian, and Italian 5%

Literacy: 67% (male 78%, female 58%)

GDP: $619 million ($1300 per capita)

Unemployment rate: 50%

Agriculture products: fruits, vegetables; goats, sheep, camels, animal hides

Industries: construction, salt

Telephones: wired 9500, cellular 23,000 (2003)

Radio stations: 1 AM, 1 FM

TV stations: 1

Internet country code: .dj

Internet users: 6500

Airports: 13 (3 with paved runways)

Railways: 1 (63 miles total track, under joint control with Ethiopia)

Roadways: 1806 miles (227 paved)

Merchant Marine: 1 cargo ship

Economic Overview:
The economy is based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location as a free trade zone in northeast Africa. Two-thirds of the inhabitants live in the capital city (Djibouti); the remainder are mostly nomadic herders. Scanty rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most food must be imported. Djibouti provides services as a transit port for the region and as an international transshipment and refueling center. Djibouti has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of at least 50% continues to be a major problem. While inflation is not a concern, due to the fixed tie of the Djiboutian franc to the US dollar, the artificially high value of the Djiboutian franc adversely affacts Djibouti's balance of payments. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Faced with a multitude of economic difficulties, the government has fallen in arrears on long-term external debt and has been struggling to meet the stipulations of foreign aid donors.

So, there y'are.....hardly sounds like a great travel destination or a good spot for a retirement home, does it? Musta been easy pickings for the US military to negotiate a lease......